UNEP releases new assessment
and database of policy tools for climate
change solutions in the building sector
Prague/Nairobi, 24 September 2007 - Regulation
is the most effective means to achieve greenhouse
gas emission reductions from buildings,
a sector which accounts for some 30-40 %
of global energy use.
Regulatory and control instruments such
as building codes and appliance standards
are the most effective way to increase energy
efficiency, and so mitigate the industry's
impact on global warming.
The key precondition for their success
is that sufficient resources and efforts
are invested in their implementation and
enforcement, as well as a regular updating
of the relevant specifications.
The findings are contained in a new study
entitled, "Assessment of policy instruments
for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from
buildings," which is being released
today at the "Sustainable Buildings
07" conference in Prague,Czech Republic.
Produced by the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) Sustainable Buildings and
Construction Initiative (SBCI), the study
analysed 20 different types of policy tools
in the areas of legislation, information,
economic incentives and fiscal measures
that were targeting energy efficiency in
buildings.
It looked at some 80 case studies from 52
countries and evaluated the different policy
tools based on their effectiveness in terms
of reduction of CO2 emissions, their cost
effectiveness and associated success factors.
"According to the latest assessments
of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, around 30 per cent of greenhouse
gas emissions could be reduced by 2020 by
measures such as improved energy efficiency
in residential and commercial buildings.
Importantly, this could lead to gains in
global GDP-not costs," said Achim Steiner,
UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive
Director.
"The new UNEP SBCI study demonstrates
the critical roles that governments need
to take in establishing, implementing, and
enforcing regulatory policies so as to realize
these emission reductions and these environmental,
social and economics gains," he said
Produced in partnership with the Central
European University in Budapest, the new
study is supported by a database that showcases
the lessons learned from the 80 case studies.
Copies can be downloaded from http://www.unepsbci.org
Note to Editors
The SBCI is an international partnership
to "green" the multi-billion dollar
building and construction sector. Launched
one year ago with UNEP, it now has over
thirty members including some of the biggest
names in the business such as Lafarge, Skanska
and Arcelor. The SBCI secretariat is hosted
by the UNEP Division of Technology, Industry
and Economics in Paris.
Nick Nuttall
Press Conference - High-Level Event on
Climate Change with UNEP Executive Director
Achim Steiner
Today's high-level event on climate change
pointed to "unprecedented momentum
of public and political attention"
to environmental issues, Achim Steiner,
Executive Director of the United Nations
Environmental Programme (UNEP), said at
a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.
He said climate change had ceased to be
simply the preoccupation of scientists and
negotiators, and become a universal public
issue that deserved to remain at the forefront
of world attention. The success of today's
event would create an even stronger impetus
to reach consensus during the United Nations
Climate Change Conference scheduled for
Bali, Indonesia, from 3 to 14 December.
"This meeting comes in the run-up to
the Bali meeting and, in that sense, the
signal it is sending is that we need a qualitatively
different political understanding of the
need for the negotiations to begin in Bali."
Mr. Steiner also pointed to the 22 September
agreement reached in Montreal as an example
of the world's readiness for progress on
climate change. The agreement, reached on
the twentieth anniversary of the Montreal
Protocol, sets 2013 as the closing date
for the production of hydrochlorofluorocarbons
(HCFCs), and brings forward their final
phase-out by 10 years. The agreement was
"just one more signal that shows that
the UN is perfectly capable of convening
international consensus if indeed Member
States are willing to come to the table
and work together", the UNEP chief
said.
In a similar vein, he praised United Nations
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for putting
climate change at the top of the Organization's
agenda, noting that his sense of urgency
had been echoed by all the speakers in today's
meetings. The Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) was also a major factor
in creating that sense of urgency and consensus.
Mr. Steiner also expressed support for the
upcoming United States-hosted Meeting of
Economies on Energy Security, scheduled
for 27 and 28 September in Washington, D.C.
Asked about the Czech President's call
for a second IPCC process, he said the first
IPCC report had been so conclusive as to
obviate the need for a parallel process.
Some 2,000 scientists from around the world
had signed on to the Panel's declaration
that there was an unequivocal link between
human activity and global warming.
Responding to a question as to whether
there would be a trend to "shuffle
aside" the Kyoto Protocol in favour
of newer international accords, the Executive
Director said the Bali Conference would
build on the achievements of Kyoto, while
learning from its failures. "I think
it is very likely that the next agreement
that will follow Kyoto in 2012 will certainly
be inclusive of more issues, broader mechanisms,
and more opportunities for collaboration.
But ultimately, its yardstick is really,
does it address the emission reduction lines
that the IPCC has drawn, and I think that
has to be the crucial litmus test."
In response to a question on how climate
change had come so much to the forefront
of world consciousness, he said ordinary
people around the world had become educated
about environmental issues, creating a groundswell
of concern which was now carrying over into
the political and economic spheres. "Climate
change is no longer the issue or preoccupation
only of scientists or of negotiators, but
it has become a people's issue. People have
taken the debate and the issue of what we
are observing as happening on the planet
into the public debate rooms, and that has
enabled politics to follow.
Similarly, he continued, as climate change
had become a public issue it had also become
an international issue, the concern of the
developing world as well as that of the
developed world.
Environmental issues were global issues,
which must be treated as such.
